This being a special anniversary season for Joseph Haydn, we gave each of our two ‘adhoc’ quartets a work by Haydn, opus 77 numbers one and two. Perfect study pieces for young ensembles and as attractive and imaginative as anything he ever wrote for the genre, Kazu and I had a wonderful time preparing both works. After a few days of deliberation, my own ‘adhoc’ group was baptized the ‘Esterhazy Quartet’ and went on to give their debut performance in the first Fellows’  Performance Series concert on Saturday morning, as we were flying out of JKF bound for Tokyo. From the correspondence that has ensued, I gather that the performance was a success.

It’s sometimes not easy to predict how the musical and personal dynamics will evolve within these groups as the summer progresses, but we do our best to create harmonious and well balanced ensembles from the assembled cast of players that pass through the audition round. Though some groups see more than their fair share of conflict along the way, the musical results are often quite exhilarating. It is after all, quite a lot to ask of four complete strangers to live in such close proximity for six weeks, hard at work on some of the most refined, indeed musically profound works in the repertory. When things do not go well, I always like to remind the students (and myself!) that you learn more from your mistakes than from your successes.

On Thursday night, our very own Yale graduate string quartet, the Jasper Quartet gave an elegant and probing account of another work by Haydn, the quartet opus 76 number 1. This was their first performance of the work and an important opportunity for the group to get a feel for it ahead of some important concerts this summer. This is one of the things that makes the Norfolk experience so valuable for committed young quartets. Though the surroundings might seem low key, the inverted Shed stage can be an intimidating place, especially when the choir loft, only a few feet away is populated by distinguished faculty. Our guest of honor this week was Shmuel Ashkenasi, an extraordinary artist, exceptional violinist and pedagogue, for over thirty years the first violinist of the famed Vermeer Quartet.

Having received coachings from him myself at the tender age of nineteen, I felt more than a twinge of nerves stepping out on stage at the Shed for our own performance on Saturday night! A particular joy that night was to join forces with the Jasper Quartet in a performance of the Mendelsshon octet. To teach is one thing, but to actively work together and experience the music in concert, there is no more illuminating an experience.

Our preformed ensembles this summer, the Chimeng Quartet from Shanghai and the Linden Quartet from Cleveland are two extremely accomplished string quartets. The humility of the former group is quite something to behold. After a most impressive audition last February, we asked whether the group might have any questions about our program at Norfolk. Their reply, softly and earnestly intoned by the group’s cellist  - “how can we improve?” A delightful moment encapsulating the idealism of this beautiful place.